Celebrating Pope Leo's First Anniversary
Anniversary Mass Photo Gallery
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"Leo from Chicago" Documentary
Featuring Fr. Ray Flores and some of our parishioners!
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NBC Chicago Interview with John Prevost & Fr. Ray Flores
100 Days of Pope Leo Interview
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Pope Leo’s Voicemail Blessing for St. Jude Church:
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A message from Fr. Ray Flores on the election of Pope Leo XIV:
It is with great joy and thanksgiving to God that I share great news in the election of our new Pope, Leo XIV. It is an amazing moment in the life of the universal church that Robert Francis Prevost has been elevated to the Chair of St. Peter. What an incredible blessing for the church, the Augustinian order, and our local church.
Last August, our parish hosted the then Cardinal Prevost, OSA as part of our speaker series. He spoke about many wonderful and hopeful things in the life of the church. If you are interested, here is the video from that insightful evening:
After the announcement of the new pope, I was on the phone with his brother and St. Jude parishioner, John Prevost, and we decided that we were heading to Rome. We didn’t really have a specific plan in mind; the pope had just been named. We just knew that we wanted to be in Rome to participate in the joyful excitement of the moment.
We arrived into Rome and were driven to St. Monica’s, our Augustinian house, which is just steps away from St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. The rest of the day was a blur of wonderful activity: we were invited to join the Holy Father as he made his first visits outside of the Vatican. The first visit was to the Shrine of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, which is a very special place for the Augustinian community. It’s here that the beautiful icon of our Our Mother of Good Counsel is located and it is here that Pope Leo made intermission to Our Blessed Mother, as he begins his Petrine ministry. The second visit was to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the first and oldest church dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God. This is the place that was very special to the late Holy Father, Pope Francis. It is also here that Pope Francis is buried; Pope Leo prayed both at the image of Our Lady and at the tomb of Pope Francis.
On Sunday, we were invited to participate in the papal mass which was held at the tomb of St. Peter. It was an incredibly beautiful experience, there are simply no words to describe the feelings of gratitude and thanksgiving for having been able to be here and to participate in these extraordinary days of grace and blessings.
We had an opportunity to visit with the Holy Father before leaving Rome and I asked if he would impart his blessings upon the community of St. Jude. I’m excited to be back home with all of you and to share that blessing with you. Please pray for our new Holy Father, Pope Leo as he begins his new pastoral ministry.
Blessings,
Fr. Ray